Jodi Magness, a religious studies professor at UNC, has won the Archaeological Institute of America’s Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.
The award will be presented to Magness, the Kenan Distinguished Professor for Teaching Excellence in Early Judaism in the College of Arts and Sciences, at the institute’s meeting in Chicago on Jan. 4.
The institute annually presents an award to an individual who has demonstrated excellence in the teaching of archaeology and has developed innovative teaching methods or interdisciplinary curricula.
Magness is a leading expert on the archaeology of ancient Palestine, including the site where the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. She has led UNC students every summer since 2003 in excavations of a Roman fort dating to ca. 300 A.D. at Yotvata, Israel. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in early Jewish history, literature, religion and archaeology.
Magness’ book, “The Archaeology of Qumran and the Dead Sea Scrolls” was selected as an Outstanding Academic Book for 2003 by Choice magazine and won the 2003 Biblical Archaeology Society’s Award for Best Popular Book in Archaeology. She was also awarded the 2006 Irene Levi-Sala Book Prize in nonfiction for her book, “The Archaeology of the Early Islamic Settlement in Palestine.”
